diff --git a/ax/utils/common/tests/test_testutils.py b/ax/utils/common/tests/test_testutils.py
index 4a2572b0af9..390b59d3e49 100644
--- a/ax/utils/common/tests/test_testutils.py
+++ b/ax/utils/common/tests/test_testutils.py
@@ -102,3 +102,14 @@ def test_fail_deprecated(self) -> None:
         self.assertEqual(1, 1)
         with self.assertRaises(RuntimeError):
             self.assertEquals(1, 1)
+
+    def test_ax_long_test_decorator(self) -> None:
+        testReason: str = "testReason"
+
+        @TestCase.ax_long_test(testReason)
+        def decorated_test() -> None:
+            self.assertEqual(testReason, self._long_test_active_reason)
+
+        self.assertEqual(None, self._long_test_active_reason)
+        decorated_test()
+        self.assertEqual(None, self._long_test_active_reason)
diff --git a/ax/utils/common/testutils.py b/ax/utils/common/testutils.py
index 5739ee88076..8efde4b41db 100644
--- a/ax/utils/common/testutils.py
+++ b/ax/utils/common/testutils.py
@@ -279,9 +279,10 @@ def custom_import(name: str, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
 class TestCase(fake_filesystem_unittest.TestCase):
     """The base Ax test case, contains various helper functions to write unittests."""
 
-    MAX_TEST_SECONDS = 480
+    MAX_TEST_SECONDS = 60
     NUMBER_OF_PROFILER_LINES_TO_OUTPUT = 20
     PROFILE_TESTS = False
+    _long_test_active_reason: Optional[str] = None
 
     def __init__(self, methodName: str = "runTest") -> None:
         def signal_handler(signum: int, frame: Optional[FrameType]) -> None:
@@ -292,7 +293,20 @@ def signal_handler(signum: int, frame: Optional[FrameType]) -> None:
                 message += (
                     " To see a profiler output, set `TestCase.PROFILE_TESTS` to `True`."
                 )
-            logger.warning(message)
+
+            if self._long_test_active_reason is None:
+                message += (
+                    " To specify a reason for a long running test,"
+                    + " utilize the @ax_long_test decorator. If your test "
+                    + "is long because it's doing modeling, please use the "
+                    + "@fast_botorch_optimize decorator and see if that helps."
+                )
+                raise TimeoutError(message)
+            else:
+                message += (
+                    " Reason for long running test: " + self._long_test_active_reason
+                )
+                logger.warning(message)
 
         super().__init__(methodName=methodName)
         signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, signal_handler)
@@ -484,6 +498,13 @@ def _print_profiler_output(self) -> None:
         for line in output[-self.NUMBER_OF_PROFILER_LINES_TO_OUTPUT :]:
             print(line)
 
+    @classmethod
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def ax_long_test(cls, reason: Optional[str]) -> Generator[None, None, None]:
+        cls._long_test_active_reason = reason
+        yield
+        cls._long_test_active_reason = None
+
     # This list is taken from the python standard library
     # pyre-fixme[4]: Attribute must be annotated.
     failUnlessEqual = assertEquals = _deprecate(unittest.TestCase.assertEqual)